The Rise of Superman
by Blade1582
Summary: After Dark Thursday the world has begun to spiral into darkness and the time has come for Kal-El of Krypton to embrace his destiny. New allies and a new love will give him the strength he needs to become Metropolis's Man of Steel.
1. Chapter One, Changes Pt1

The Rise of Superman

Written by Blade_1582

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I've revamped the story and made various changes to some of the already posted chapters. Nothing major, just some cosmetic and continuity stuff. Cheers!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville, Superman or anything related to DC Comics other than a cache of comics and a handful of old action figures. Please don't sue me, I'm broke enough as it is.

* * *

On the doomed planet of Krypton, a wise scientist placed his infant son in a spaceship and launched him to a distant world. As the once proud Kryptonian race was obliterated by its own hubris, his noble sacrifice would forever change the course of human history.

Raised by a kind farmer and his wife, the boy would one day grow to become our world's most stalwart guardian, a bastion of hope in times of disparity. Before he was the Man of Tomorrow, he was a young man at war with himself; his destiny and the forces that sought to corrupt and destroy him.

His rise to power was a difficult one; a perilous journey fraught with sacrifice and betrayal. As the world around him fell into turmoil and his life was at its most dark, a human woman, strong and brave; changed him for the better. Their love gave him the strength of heart and certainty of spirit he needed to cast off the chains that bound him and allowed him to finally soar.

This is their story, the story of Superman…

* * *

**Part One**_  
Changes_

If it were possible, the Daily Planet's bullpen was more chaotic now than it had ever been before. Reporters, interns, photographers and all manners of copy boys skittered around the bustling newsroom, clamoring about the cataclysmic events that had taken place over the last twenty four hours. The news media had given General Zod's failed attempt at world domination the dubious title of 'Dark Thursday', a naive but insightful moniker to say the least.

Clark Kent grimaced inwardly as he forced his way through the seemingly endless throngs of reporters. _'Only here would an alien invasion be good for business'_ he mused as he scanned the faceless crowd, frantically searching for any sign of a certain fare haired reporter. It really shouldn't have surprised him that she would be here of all places. After all, it was indicative of Chloe Sullivan to throw caution by the way side and leap head first into a story, no matter how dangerous it was. In fact, he was beginning to wonder if her self-preservation instincts were strictly limited to a hefty dose of verbal judo when a flash of motion caught his eye and drew his attention to the far left hand corner of the room. He found her there, aimlessly chatting with a coworker behind a mile high stack of back issued copies of the paper. His heart thundered in his chest as he took in the sight of her.

Her corn silk hair was tucked behind her ear, held in place by a dull and freshly gnawed pencil. Her lips were pursed into a thin line in concentration and her olive eyes never left her computer monitor as her coworker continued to prattle on and on incessantly. Clark stood frozen for a moment as he watched her in wide-eyed wonder. _'This is it' _he told himself, _'the point of no return'_. If he didn't summon the courage to speak to her here and now, then he never would. He dug deep and drew a ragged breath before calling out to her.

"Chloe!" he bellowed, a bit more forcefully than he'd intended. His voice carried over the newsroom commotion as he pushed through the frenzied crowd with renewed fervor. Chloe's head snapped up and she scanned the room for the source of the familiar voice that had called out to her, stopping short when her gaze locked onto a pair of piercing cerulean eyes. In one fluid motion she was up out of her chair and practically running across the packed newsroom towards a pair of waiting arms.

"Clark" Chloe whispered as she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his broad chest. Clark pulled her small frame against his and rested his cheek against her hair. He let a sigh of relief slip through his lips once he had her safe in his arms. "Thank god you're alright" Chloe murmured into his chest, her eyes welling with hot tears that threatened to fall at a moment's notice. "I thought I'd lost you" She said in a muffled sob, burying her face deeper into Clark's chest as stinging tears blazed hot trails down her cheeks. Clark felt the burning tears sear his soul as they began to fall and he drew in a quick, ragged breath of air and fought to calm his frazzled nerves. He'd come here for a reason and now, with her nestled so comfortably in his arms, sheer unbridled panic cut through his steel resolve like a hot knife through butter.

"Chloe" Clark breathed thankfully, his voice shaky and uneven. He sucked in another ragged breath and the euphoric honeysuckle smell of her skin wafted up to him, lulling him into an uneasy sense of peace.

'_Don't say it Clark'_ Chloe pleaded inwardly,_ 'please don't say it'_. All she wanted at this moment was to stay wrapped in his arms and escape the utter chaos that surrounded them. He was safe, alive and for the moment, hers. Was staying this way too much to ask? As if in response to her unspoken query, Clark backed out of their embrace ever so slightly and Chloe bit her lip in anticipation as she dared to gaze up at him. A muffled sigh escaped her pursed lips as she looked deep into the shimmering cerulean pools nestled beneath his furrowed brow. Her heart sank as she read the worrisome expression that had so easily overtaken his handsome features. She'd seen this face before, too many times. This was the face he'd worn each and every time he'd broken her heart. A hauntingly familiar silence fell between them, and Chloe felt an icy chill run down her spine as the deafening silence between them echoed in her ears. The strain quickly became too much for her to bear. Before she could even register the change, her mouth opened of its own accord and moments later she heard the sound of her own voice.

"Clark, the world was _literally_ falling down around us" She said curtly, her inherent sarcasm bubbling to the surface in a time honored tradition of self preservation. "It's not like I was expecting us to hook up…" Chloe trailed to a finish, wincing at the venomous tone of her words. No matter what her feelings were or how badly it hurt to see that look in his eyes Clark didn't deserve the verbal lashing she'd inadvertently given.

"_You_ weren't" Clark said dejectedly, an edge in his voice. It hadn't been a question but a statement of undeniable fact. She hadn't been expecting anything. Wanting on the other hand, now that was a different thing entirely. Of course she'd wanted Clark to pull her back to him and crush his lips to hers but that wasn't going to happen on this or any other plane of existence. Still, something in the way he'd said _'you'_ had sounded inappropriately singular.

"Clark?" She questioned, daring a long gaze into his eyes before she leaned back into him, brazenly resting her hand on his chest. "Are you okay?"She probed, knowing full well that whatever was bothering him wasn't going to be divulged willingly. Information wasn't easily coerced from Clark Kent, A lesson that years of difficult friendship and an inexplicably awkward high school career had taught her very well. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" She reassured him, and he finally dared to look her in the eye.

"Not here" Clark said as he reached for the hand atop his chest. Chloe tightened her jaw reflexively and waited for Clark to try to nonchalantly remover her hand but he instead place his own large one over hers, eliciting a surprised gasp from Chloe's pursed lips.

"It's as good a place as any" Chloe quipped dryly, a blatant attempt to weasel some miniscule amount of information from him.

"This is something I'd rather keep _off the record_"Clark chuckled as he shot a sideways glance towards the huddled masses of reporters that had suddenly focused their undivided attention on the oddly intimate exchange that was beginning to unfold.

"Oh" Chloe said haphazardly. "_Oh_"She repeated, somewhat more exuberantly as the realization dawned on her. The way he'd said _'you',_ the way he was holding her in his arms right this minute. All of it fell perfectly into place like blocks in a game of Tetris. Clark had…

"Come by the loft later?"Clark asked, his voice snapping Chloe out of her reverie.

"Uh huh" Chloe answered blankly, her focus trained on the hand Clark held against his chest. She was completely and utterly mesmerized by the feel of his steady heartbeat beneath her palm, by the way he gently squeezed her hand as his fingertips traced invisible patterns across her skin. Her eyes dared to flutter closed for the briefest of seconds, just so she could lose herself in the feel of his touch.

"Well…" Clark sighed; "I'd better let you get back to work" He trailed off as he slowly began to pull away from Chloe's grasp. His fingertips tracked across the back of her hand as he backed away and established an uncomfortable distance between the two of them. Too close to be friendly, and far too distant to be intimate. They stood suspended in the awkward orbit Clark had created, gazing wordlessly at one another for a long moment. Chloe was the first to break the deafening silence with a muffled "yeah" as she cradled the hand he'd just been holding, her skin still tingling from his touch "Crazy news day".

"I bet" Clark said with a crooked smile as he turned to walk away.

'_Say it, Clark. Please, for the love of god and all that is holy, say it. '_Chloe pleaded inwardly but only received a husky "see you later Chloe" as Clark disappeared into the faceless crowd of reporters, leaving her dazed and confused in the center of the newsroom. _'What the hell just happened?'_Chloe asked herself as she watched Clark's retreating form. The shy and retiring Clark Kent had just put the moves on her, hadn't he? Or had it all been some evil trick of her subconscious? Her mind playing tricks on her the way it usually did whenever he was around. One minute she'd been making headway on an article and trying unsuccessfully to avoid the annoyingly effervescent Cat Grant and the next…

"Oh. My. God!" A high-pitched squeal, followed by the clacking sound of overpriced heels echoed through the bullpen, jarring Chloe from her Clark induced stupor. _'Speak of the devil…' _She groaned inwardly _'Leave it to Clark Kent to give the local gossip monger something new to chew on…'_Chloe mused dejectedly as she waited for hurricane Grant to make landfall.

"Sullivan!" Cat bellowed as she sauntered up to Chloe. "Who was that and where can I get one?"

"He's a friend" Chloe said dismissively as she trudged back to her desk, visibly irritated.

"This friend got a name?" Cat questioned as she trailed behind Chloe, breezing her way through the crowded walkway betweens desks. "What's it matter to you?" Chloe asked as she plopped down into her uncomfortable desk chair, groaning as the ancient wooden chair let out an awful creak.

"MrrrRrrow! Ffft! Ffft!" Cat hissed as she clawed the open air between them in an alarmingly accurate feline impersonation as she hiked up her already short skirt and sat down on the edge of Chloe's desk, eliciting an annoyed groan from the blonde reporter as she began to massage her temples in an attempt to alleviate the coming headache. "Somebody sure is defensive" Cat purred and Chloe sighed responsively "you never answered my question…" She said as she drummed out the Jeopardy theme on the wooden desktop with her finely manicured fingernails.

"Clark" Chloe groaned as she continued to massage her temples. "His name is Clark"

"Is he seeing anyone?" Cat asked as she haphazardly extended her fingers to examine her nails in the light. "Would that stop you anyway?" Chloe asked.

"No, probably not" Cat said with a laugh, and Chloe clenched her fists into tight balls, her knuckles cracking in response. "Looks like someone's nursing a crush on that gorgeous hunk of man" Cat said flippantly and Chloe tightened her jaw. Why was she letting Cat Grant get under her skin like this? Every time that woman opened her mouth, Chloe wanted to staple it shut.

"I do _not_ have a crush on Clark" Chloe said from behind clenched teeth as she gave her stapler a wistful glance.

"You know," Cat droned on insipidly as the toyed with a lock of her hair. " I've never really been a big fan of the whole farm boy thing but hot damn!"

"Dream on Cat" Chloe groaned as she shook her mouse to bring her computer out of its hibernation. "No way is Clark Kent going to be the newest notch on your bedpost" Cat hissed and clawed the air once more and Chloe couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Don't you have a column to write?" Chloe asked, desperate to find a way to end this uncomfortable line of conversation.

"Nah, gossip is in short supply at the moment." Cat said gleefully and Chloe let out an exasperated sigh. Ditching this rousing session of girl talk was going to be harder than she thought. "So how long have you been strung out on this Clark guy?" Cat asked dryly.

"It's not like that with me and Clark" Chloe said flatly, eyes trained on the game of minesweeper she was toying with. "We're _just _friends. End of story"

"If you say so" Cat said wryly. "You can't kid a kidder Chloe. Relationships are what I do and-" Chloe threw her head back and erupted into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "I didn't realize a string of one night stands was grounds for a bachelor's degree in _'relationships'_ "Chloe choked out between gasps of air.

"Oh ha ha" Cat scoffed dryly. "Chemistry isn't just a class in high school, sweet cheeks. You kids have it" Cat said as she slid off the edge of Chloe's desk and onto her feet. "And as for being _just_ friends, I'd be willing to bet that Clark's looking for something more than friendship. " Cat said flatly before turning on her heel and sauntering away, leaving Chloe to stew in her own confusion yet again.

'_She's right.' _Chloe thought to herself as she nervously drummed her pencil against the desktop, her racing thoughts falling in time with the crashes of wood against wood._ ' Clark had clearly wanted something more than friendship, and so did she, but now? After everything that had happened to them over the last few months? After Lana falling in with Lex, and his father's death? God, Clark was an emotional wreck right now. It was only natural for him to try and reach out to someone close to him, and the kiss…that earth shattering kiss had made everything even more confusing.' _Chloe leaned forward and rested her heavy head in her hands. She'd made a royal mess out of everything…and got her own hopes up in the process. She wouldn't, _couldn't _let herself fall into the old pattern of being Clark's consolation prize another time. Her heart, and her sanity couldn't take it again.

"Why does _everything_ have to be so complicated?" She questioned in vain, knowing full well that this whole situation was of her own making. She lifted her head and stole a glance at the clock; Three O'clock, two hours until quitting time. Two very, _very_ long hours.

It was just before sunset when Clark returned to the farm and began the arduous journey up the stairs towards his room, haphazardly examining the torn and scorched jacket he held in his hands along the way. After his visit with Chloe at the planet, he'd hand an over abundance of nervous energy and opted to run a sweep through Metropolis. Zod had left him one hell of a mess to clean up. _'It's my mess'_ Clark reminded himself in an attempt to write off the sporadic aches and pains that shot through his extremities as some sort of penance for releasing Zod to begin with. Two thousand people were without water and even more were without power. Repair crews and emergency vehicles were cut off by debris in almost every borough, or at least they had been until Clark had taken it upon himself to jump start the repair efforts. He'd consider himself lucky if anyone who saw him wrote it off as post traumatic stress or some other delusion.

'_Speaking of delusions…' _Clark mused as she took the last step up into the upstairs hallway and tossed what remained of his blue jacket in the direction of his room, honestly not caring whether it made it or not. Chloe would be arriving soon and despite the fact that she was all he'd been thinking about all day long he _still_ had no idea what he was going to say or do. His relationship track record wasn't exactly stellar. In fact, it was positively horrible, downright terrifying when he thought about it. Despite the year or so during high school where he'd yo-yoed back and forth between Chloe and Lana there had been Kyla and Alicia. Both of whom were dead largely because of him and he would _never _forgive himself if he put Chloe in anymore danger than she was already in. Begin close to him was a sure fire way to end up in danger's sights. '_How many times has she literally put her life in his hands since she discovered his abilities?_'Clark asked himself as he strode into the bathroom _'too many'_ he sighed as he kicked the door shut behind him.

'_She's not Lana'_ he chided himself as he stripped out of his filth laden clothes, remembering the day when Lana lay broken in a hospital bed because he'd unwittingly placed her in harm's way. Clark tried valiantly to shake free of the memory but only managed to back burner it. He was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to have a relationship that _wasn't _doomed to fail because of his abilities. Yes, he was Kal-El, last son of the planet Krypton, but he was also Clark Kent.

'_Whatever that's supposed to mean'_ He groaned inwardly as he started the shower and waited impatiently for the ancient water heater to surge to life so he could wash away the stench of Hob's Bay that seemed to hang just above his skin. For Christ's sake he could practically taste it in his mouth, and there was only one word to describe it – noxious. He may have had no idea what he was going to do when Chloe got here, but one thing was for certain. He absolutely refused to meet her with the stench of sewage coming off of him in waves.

"About time" he sighed thankfully as he hurriedly dove into the steam filled shower, nearly moaning in pleasure as the searing water pelted his back and soaked his unruly curls. He turned and let the water cascade across his chest and down his arms, washing away the echoes of pain that still pulsed through his muscles. His stent in the phantom zone and his tussle with Zod had wreaked havoc with his powers, and lifting a few metric tons of rubble on less than half strength hadn't helped the situation much at all. In fact, he hadn't felt this completely drained since his first day on the farm without powers, way back in his freshman year of high school. How off was it that he found himself missing those simpler days. The days when all he _really_ had to worry about was fighting the freak of the week and finding a date for the school dance.

"The dance" Clark chuckled as he leant back against the tile wall and let himself be carried away in a flood of bittersweet memories, back to one of the few bright moments that stood out in his mind right now. He found himself standing at the center of the brightly decorated gymnasium amidst so many of his forgotten classmates, his attention focused on the gorgeous creature in his arms. She was a vision in bright coral, a color that should forever be reserved for her and her alone. Her golden locks were swept up, and her eyes glistened like emerald in the silvery moonlight. His hands snaked tighter around her trim waist, moving completely on their own accord as they swayed to the music that played in the distance. Time slowed to an infinitesimal crawl as he studied her in wide eyed splendor. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and though he knew them to be tears of joy, the mere idea of her crying sent a spasm of pain through the core of his being. He pulled her closer and rested his cheek against her upswept hair, his tense shoulders relaxed as she settled herself against his chest as they danced. The music began to build towards its climax, and they both stilled, knowing what was happening. Clark dared a downward glance just as she turned her eyes upward, and their gazes locked. Clark's eyes shifted to her rose tinted lips and he tensed. Her eyes fluttered closed, as did his, and in the darkness he could feel them drifting closer together. He could feel her breath on his lips, the scent of her perfume washed over him, lulling him.

A sharp, biting cold shot across his back, snapping him out of his reverie. Clark let out a frustrated grunt and ran a hand through his wet hair. He wondered what things would be like now if he had kissed back then. Would anything have changed? _Really_ changed? Could something as truly simply as a kiss change everything? 'It could' He told himself, his feelings at this very moment where a testament to that fact. Chloe had kissed him and everything had changed because of it. What was left to be decided was whether everything had changed of the better or not.

As Clark continued to ponder, downstairs Martha Kent strode through the back door of the farmhouse and into her kitchen. She stood frozen on the other side of the doorway and let the screen door slam shut behind her as she took a moment to just relish in the familiar scents and sounds. The sweet scent of vanilla that hung in the air, the way the floorboards creaked beneath her feet. After everything that had happened in the last day and a half, it felt good to be home. No matter what her troubles were, or how insurmountable they seemed, this farm, this home had always had a sobering effect on her. It was as if the simple act of her crossing the threshold would wash away every last one of her anxieties and leave her with nothing but a sense of serenity so intense that it bordered on tangibility. Sometimes it felt like these difficult times were incapable of dwelling within the confines of the Kent family farm. Sometimes, however, they came right to her doorstep.

The warm, comforting aura that seemed to emanate from every corner and surface of this house had faded away a little more every day since Jonathon's death. Days like these were when Martha felt her husband's absence the most. She needed him now more than she ever had before, their son needed him. Jor-El had praised the guidance that she'd given Clark, guidance that he was going to need more and more of. The world was changing fast, and not for the better. Soon the day she'd always hoped would never come would be upon her. The world would need Clark, and she had no idea how to guide him, but Jonathon would. Jonathon had always known what to say, and even when he didn't he made it feel like he did.

"_I miss you"_ Martha said wistfully as she lifted a framed photo of her family from the end table beside Jonathon's arm chair. Gingerly she traced the lines of her husband's face with her fingertips, silent tears splashing against the glass pane as trailed down her cheeks and fell.

"Mom?" Clark's concerned voice echoed from the stairwell and Martha hastily wiped her eyes with the cuff of her shirt sleeve before turning to greet her son.

"Clark, I…I didn't know you were home" She said warmly, her voice shaky and uneven. Tears stung the corners of her eyes. Martha turned, not wanting her son to see her cry. "How was Chloe?" She asked as she returned the photo to its resting place and wiped her eyes on her shirt sleeve once more.

"She was…" Clark trailed anxiously, unsure of how to explain the heretofore unnamed shift in he and Chloe's relationship. "Actually, that's kind of what I'd like to talk to you about…"

"What's happened?" Martha questioned earnestly.

"Okay, you know how close I am to Chloe" Clark said, pacing behind the sofa in a nervous circle.

"She's your best friend" Martha answered flatly.

"Yeah, best friend" Clark said, more to himself than to his mother. "Well…things might have changed on that front…"

"Clark..." Martha trailed warningly, slowly sinking into her husband's chair as she waited for Clark to explain.

"We've been getting closer since things with Lana caved in…and when the world went pear shaped, she kissed me" Clark said, coming to a halt as he allowed himself to relive the moment where Chloe had crushed her lips to his in the single most blindingly passionate kiss he'd ever had. "She said she didn't know If she'd ever see me again and then kissed me, right out of the blue"

"People do strange things when the world is about to come down…" Martha said cautiously, side stepping memories of the lingering glances she and Lionel had shared in the barn.

"This wasn't just any kiss, mom…this was THE kiss. " Clark said flatly, whirling on his heel as to begin pacing anew. " I felt something…something between us just clicked"

"You've been down this road with Chloe before" Martha said warningly.

"See, that's just the thing" Clark said as he made yet another circle behind the sofa. "I've been _on_ this road with Chloe…I've just never gone down it. I was always too scared to…scared that everything would change" He said, memories of his and Chloe's many failed attempts flashing through his mind as he spoke. "Everything has changed." He turned towards his mother, his gaze shifting back and forth between her and the photo of their family on the table beside her.

"Dad's gone, I can't talk to Lex. I don't know where I stand with Chloe…" Clark said sullenly, the weight of the world bearing down on him. "I don't know where to go from here"

"I didn't either when I was your age" Martha said as she rose from her seat and crossed the room to her son. "Just follow your heart, and you'll always do the right thing"

"Even if my heart is pulling somewhere I've never gone?" Clark questioned, side stepping around his mother. "Half the country is a mess because I screwed up and I don't know what to do."Clark said softly, turning to look back at his mother as he spoke. "The world needs more from me and I don't know if I'm ready for it"

Martha gazed long and hard at her son, taking in the first glimpse of the man he was becoming. Pride and fear dueled inside of her as she prayed to the ghost of her husband's memory for council on what to tell him. "Every world needs it's heroes, Clark" She said after a long silence "They inspire us to be better than we are, and they protect us from the darkness that's just around the corner" Martha said, coming closer to her son "You are your father's son" She said as she wrapped her arms around Clark's larger frame and pulled him into a tight hug. "You'll find a way"


	2. Changes Pt2

The Rise of Superman

Written by Blade_1582

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I've revamped the story and made various changes to some of the already posted chapters. Nothing major, just some cosmetic and continuity stuff. Cheers!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville, Superman or anything related to DC Comics other than a cache of comics and a handful of old action figures. Please don't sue me, I'm broke enough as it is.

* * *

Chloe turned onto the familiar gravel side road that stretched from the main road towards the Kent farmhouse, her small car jostling in response to the uneven change in terrain. The light drizzle that had begun just as she had crossed into Lowell County was now pounding nosily against her windshield. For some reason it just felt right that it was raining, it seemed to quell the uneasiness that lurked in the pit of her stomach. The rhythmic thrumming of the raindrops against glass, the staccato squeaks that came with each pass of the windshield wipers, even the howl of the winds helped to tame the frazzled remains of her self control. It had taken every remaining shred of her self-restraint to keep from storming out of the bullpen, jumping into her car and racing the fastest man alive to his hayloft retreat. Her stomach lurched uneasily as she rounded the last bend in the dirt road and made a bee line for the yellow farmhouse in the distance. The fluttering butterflies in her stomach had suddenly become expert dive bombers.

'_Get a hold of yourself, Chlo'_ She chided herself as she pulled up outside of the unassuming barn and threw the car into park but her nervousness was not so easily abated. Goosebumps overtook her arms and legs, her hands trembled on the steering wheel as she nervously picked at the fraying edges of the wheel's covering. She forced herself further into the plush bucket seating of her car and let her eyes flutter closed as she sucked in a ragged lungful of much needed air.

"It's just Clark" she breathed to herself in a vain attempt to regain some sense of composure. There was nothing _'just'_ about Clark. He was impossibly strong when no one else was. He was kind and understanding . To her, he was the total embodiment of the word _Safe_. He was her confidant, her conscious, her hero, and her best friend. It was then in that minuscule moment of absolute clarity that everything fell into place. Chloe's eyes darted open as the sheer enormity of the realization hit her full on. Try as she might to swallow her feelings for Clark she knew deep down that she was completely, irrevocably in love with him.

In light of everything the two of them had been through, despite each of their follies and every hardship they were made to endure; they had always managed to wind up standing side by side when the dust settled. No matter whom or what tried to pull them apart, they always found one another. _'In the cosmic scale of things, that had to amount for something didn't it?'_

"Only one way to find out" She said, coaxing herself as she threw off her seatbelt, flung open her car door and stepped out into the deluge. Rain pelted down, soaking her to the bone as she kicked the car door shut behind her as she made a bee line towards the loft. The rain fell in sheets, and Chloe pulled her coat tighter around her waterlogged form as she splashed her way across the small distance between the farmhouse driveway and the barn doors. Never in her life had it taken so long to walk such a small distance. She ducked under the barn's eve as another wave of rain came crashing down and attempted to put herself back together, however futile the attempt might be. Her hair and clothes were soaked, her makeup was smeared and running and she was shivering so badly it felt as though she was about to vibrate into another plane of existence

_'Great'_ she said to herself as she tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear and grabbed the door handle and flung it open. _'I'm about to have an emotionally up heaving conversation with Clark and now I have to do it looking like a drowned rat' _

Clark sped around in an absolute frenzy, blurring from one corner of the loft to another and back again, fixing what he could as he went. Chloe was going to be arriving any second and everything had to be perfect. He gathered up what he could salvage of the shattered stairwell and frantically went to work on the repairs. In a blur of superhuman motion he reassembled the stairs and secured them in place before he sped upstairs to go about the all important task of straightening up the loft. Thankfully most of the furniture had just been thrown about so it only took him a fraction of a second to shove everything back into its proper place.

'_One last touch_' Clark thought to himself as he pulled out one of the drawers in his ancient desk and removed a handful of small, half burned candles. Quickly, he arranged them around the loft and with a ignited them with a few blasts from his heat vision. Soon the loft was bathed in flickering golden light. With nothing left to do but wait, Clark began to anxious pace the loft in slow, lazy circles. Chloe would be here any moment and he still had absolutely no idea what he was going to say or do when she arrived. Would he kiss her? _Should_ he kiss her? Should he have her sit down so he could explain himself? How was his breath? Did his hair look okay? Was the barn _too_ clean?

Clark let out a frustrated grunt as he made another pass by the window. He paused and looked out across the fields, taking a moment to just admire the view. Thunder rumbled in the distance and a flash of blue-white lightening illuminated the dull gray clouds as they continued to pelt the ground in a hard rain. He leant against the railing and closed his eyes, letting the steady cadence of the rain falling against the barn roof drive the questions from his mind one by one. The winds shifted a little, and the driving rains began to die down. Clark slowly opened his eyes and took in a deep lungful of the cool night air.

'_Why was he so nervous in the first place?'_ He asked himself as he picked at the splintered wood of the railing. _'Chloe was his best friend, and this was just another one of their heart to heart talks'_. Clark could feel his resolve start to waiver yet again as his thoughts betrayed him. This was more than just a heart to heart chat. He was about to put his heart on the line, something he'd never thought he'd do again. _'Tonight's the night'_ He told himself _'no more secrets, no more lies. Tonight, I'm going to be painfully honest with Chloe…and myself'_

"Clark?" Chloe's voice rang through the loft like a bell, and a smile tugged at the corners of Clark's lips as he turned to face her. She stood at the top of the stairwell, shivering and soaked to the bone. Nevertheless, she was still, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing Clark's eyes had ever seen. "There might be a chance of rain" She quipped and Clark chuckled as she shrugged out of her waterlogged coat and draped it over the railing. "I like the candles" She commented over her shoulder as she cupped one of the small votives in her hand. _'so like him'_ she thought to herself as she stared at the flickering candled in her hands _'the big romantic gesture'_ She wondered why he felt the need to do all of this, _'she didn't need all the frills, all the drama. After all, she wasn't Lana.'_ Chloe hissed at the thought. _Clark was doing this like he would have done for Lana. The gestures, the furtive looks and awkward embraces…it was high school all over again. _Chloe gave an inward sigh _'it's all he knows'_ she told herself as she tried to push thoughts of Clark & Lana's tumultuous relationship from her mind. '_And you never experienced Clark's romantic side before, have you?'_ Chloe asked herself as she turned to face him.

"They're rather romantic" She said, her voice quivering as she eyed Clark through the firelight. The flickering golden light reflecting in his shinning eyes sent a wild shiver down her spine and the candle in her in hands slipped from her fingers, falling to the ground with a muffled _'thud'. _

"You must be freezing" Clark said, as he quickly left his perch against the stairwell and closed the distance between them in the fraction of a second.

"N…no…not so bad y..you'd nnnotice" Chloe said, her teeth chattering as she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep what little remaining body heat she had as close as possible.

"Here" Clark said as he shrugged out of his red jacket and held it open for Chloe to slip into. "Thanks" Chloe chattered as she slipped her arms into the large sleeves. Clark slipped his hands under the collar and flipped her sopping hair out from under it as he settled the bulky jacket onto her shoulders .A cold shiver ran along the length of her spine as she turned to face him, and she dared to peer up into his cerulean eyes. She didn't know if it was because of the cold, or Clark, and honestly she didn't care. She just wanted to stay like this, wrapped safely in his arms, with those caring eyes staring down into hers.

"Don't move" He said softly, and Chloe gave a half nod, her eyes focused on the curve of his lips as he spoke. Clark's eyes flashed amber and then a wave of gentle heat wrapped itself around Chloe like a blanket. Her eyes fluttered closed and she let out a whisper of a moan as the invisible flames licked at her skin, caressing her with their warmth. The bitter cold began to fade, and she was cocooned in pure warmth; Clark's warmth, and by god it was the most innocently sensual moment of her entire existence. It was so intense, so full of inexplicable rapture that once the heat began to fade, a faint whimper escaped her pursed lips. Chloe's eyes fluttered open and connected with a pair of shimmering cerulean pools. She stared wordlessly into his eyes for a long moment, and he stared right back into hers. His arms tightened around her waist, and Chloe nipped at her bottom lip anxiously. "T-thanks…" She stammered nervously, her emerald eyes never breaking contact with his.

"You're welcome" He said huskily.

Chloe gazed at him again, her eye brows raised in question. _Who was the man before her?_  
_Was it really Clark, her Clark?_ She'd never seen him act this way…never seen him so confidant, so comfortable in his own skin. She liked him like this. It was the side of himself he kept closed away from everyone, and now she was privy to it. She had been permitted a glance into the _real_ Clark Kent, and she was beginning to like what she saw.

"_Damn"_she breathed, her small voice caught somewhere between a whisper and a pleasured moan. Clark shot her a quizzical look, a sheepish grin on his face. "You're….You're covered in hay" She covered her misstep with a simple observation and it seemed to satisfy Clark because his eyebrows lowered back into place. It was true; the man was covered in it. It stuck to his shirt, his jeans; it was even matted in his hair. Haphazardly she began to swat away some of the lingering straws. With a flick of her wrist she divested his arms and shoulders of the clinging straws as her hands began to crawl upward on their own accord, snaking themselves around his neck and weaving her fingers into the unruly nest of black curls at the nape of his neck. Clark leaned into the caress as Chloe's fingers gently worked through his hair.

"Jesus Clark it's all in y-" Chloe stopped mid sentence as the sudden realization of their proximity to one another dawned on her. She was now standing on her tip toes, with her fingers in his hair. Clark had pulled her flush against him and had subconsciously begun to trace invisible patterns across the small of her back with his fingertips

Clark looked down into Chloe's eyes, utterly mesmerized by the shinning emerald pools. There was a light behind her eyes, a light he'd never seen before. It scared him, and exhilarated him all at the same time. '_Did she know?'_ He asked himself as they stood there in one another's arms. She had to have known. The way she was looking at him, touching him. She was confidant in a way he'd never seen before. There they stood, paused on the brink of an emotional abyss. Clark was beginning to feel as though the ground beneath his feet was about to give way when Chloe's small voice shattered the fragile silence between them like a hammer against glass.

"Y-You wanted to talk?" she questioned flatly, as she haphazardly toyed with the collar of his shirt.

"In a sec" Clark whispered his eyes half closed. _'Just do it Clark'_he told himself as he cupped Chloe's cheek in the palm of his hand, in a subtle challenge to her flirtatious behavior. Chloe's knees began to buckle as she stared wordlessly, pleadingly up at Clark. His lips hovered mere inches above hers; she could feel his warm breath on her face. 'Kiss me, damn it!' her thoughts cried out as she threaded her fingers deeper into his silken locks, but Clark stood fast.

"Well then" she said, a faint smile gracing her features as she raised a coy eyebrow, challenging Clark. "Spill"

"Then you might want to sit down" Clark said as he pulled back, Chloe pouted to herself as Clark's arms retreated and he guided her to the worn out sofa a few feet away.

_'You should have kissed her!'_Clark berated himself as Chloe crossed the distance to the sofa.

"I know" he groaned aloud, as Chloe settled herself into the cushions, eyeing him quizzically. Clark began to awkwardly pace back and forth in front of her, nervously wringing his hands as he struggled to find the right words, or any for that matter.

"I don't bite" Chloe said a little more flirtatiously than she'd intended as she patted the cushion next to her invitingly, stifling a giggle as she watched Clark's eyes bulge for a brief second.

"I know you're probably wondering why I asked you to come by" Clark said with a nervous chuckle, and her heart sank with the weight of his words. Chloe stirred uncomfortably on the sofa. The tension that radiated between them had just increased tenfold. _'This is it'_Chloe thought to herself as she nestled herself deep into the corner of the sofa, drawing in several ragged breaths as Clark crossed the room and sank down on the cushion beside her, his piercing eyes never leaving hers.

"I figured it was about us" she said flatly, daringly broaching the subject. Clark smiled weakly and gave a small nod.

"It is" he sighed, and Chloe fidgeted in her seat. Anxiety radiated off of Clark in waves. It curled off of him like smoke, and it was beginning to make her uneasy. "Listen Chlo" Clark said nervously, his voice wavering slightly. "You're my best friend" he continued as he turned to face her, his cerulean eyes shone with unshed tears as he reached between the two of them and took her small and in his. Chloe sucked in a ragged breath as she stared into his eyes for the umpteenth time that night.

"My conscious and my confidant" He continued, haphazardly tracing invisible patterns across the back of her hand with his thumb. "You've stood by me through some pretty tough times" Clark said flatly, his voice growing more and more confident with each word he spoke. "You held my hand when my world came crashing down and there are times" he continued "that I feel like I know you better than I know myself."Gingerly, Clark reached up and cupped Chloe's cheek in his palm. Her breath hitched in her throat at the feel of his intimate caress.

"And when the world was ending" Clark whispered as his thumb swept across the alabaster skin of Chloe's cheek. "You were the only person I was thinking of" Clark paused, drawing a breath of air to quell the anxious fire that burned in his gut. "I had to make it back to you" He said softly.

Chloe let out a weak sob as a few sparse tears began to fall, blazing hot trails down her cheeks as his fingertips brushed a stray lock of damp hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear as he wiped away an offending tear with the pad of his thumb. Chloe's resolve snapped and dissolved into nothingness as she relived the tender moment over and over as tears continued to fall. As many times as she imagined this moment over the years, as many ways as she'd envisioned this. She never in a million years expected something so tender, so sweet. It made her fall in love with him all over again.

"Please?" Clark pleaded; his voice barely above a whisper as he threaded his fingers threading through her corn silk tresses and rested his forehead against hers. Chloe stared wordlessly into his eyes, lost in the reflection of the twinkling candlelight. "Don't cry"

Clark drew in a slow, deep lungful of air. The honeysuckle smell of Chloe's perfume wafted up to him and he drew upon what remaining courage he had left. He had never been this scared in his life. Scared of hurting her yet again, scared of being rejected by her even though he knew deep down he probably deserved it. He was at the threshold of the single most terrifying moment in his existence, and it was with a heavy heart and a girded loin that he forced himself to take that last step into the unknown.

"I know I've hurt you in the past." he began uneasily, his voice hoarse from not being used in as many minuets. Chloe tensed at those words, and her free hand balled into a loose fist as she turned her eyes away from Clark, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes as a torrent of painful memories came flooding back.

"But over the last few months" Clark said, pulling back just a bit so he could gaze into Chloe's eyes.  
"I've been wondering what it would be like…" he said warily, frantically searching Chloe's shimmering emerald eyes for any sign that she should stop while he was ahead and just let her and everything he never knew he'd always wanted slip from his grasp.

Chloe stared wordlessly at him, drawing in breath after breath as she listened on pins and needles. She hung on every word, every sound that emanated from Clark as he struggled to find the words to say how he felt, how they both felt. In the far recesses of her mind, Chloe actually felt sorry for him. Clark had never been completely honest with anyone his entire life. For one reason or another he'd always had to keep himself restrained, hidden away from everyone and everything he cared about.

"Hey" Chloe said in a whisper as she brought her hand to Clark's cheek, tracing the lines of his face with her fingertips. "its okay" she said reassuringly. "You can tell me"

"_Chloe_" Clark breathed, his eyes shining brilliantly in the golden firelight. Chloe let out a pleading whimper as she nervously bit her lip. She was quite literally hanging on Clark's each and every word. Every second he hesitated, every time his glance shifted from her eyes, to her lips and back again was an excruciating eternity for her.

"I" Clark whispered, his warm breath splashing across Chloe's face as he spoke.

That one simple word was enough to shatter Chloe's remaining self restraint into a million tiny flecks. In a split second she wrapped her arms around Clark's neck and crushed her lips to his in a mind blowing kiss. She moaned wistfully into his mouth as years of unrequited passion bubbled to the surface. Clark's hands encircled Chloe's trim waist and her pulled her small form flush against his as he returned the kiss with equal fervor. Hushed moans and whispered sighs escaped their paired lips as they continued their passionate duel. Chloe nipped playfully at Clark's lower lip as her the tip of her tongue traced its edge, seeking entrance. Clark's lips parted and his tongue swept across Chloe's, deepening their feverishly passionate lip lock.

He let out a pleasured grunt as Chloe pushed him back into the worn couch cushions, pressing herself against him. Clark relented and slowly lay back on the cushions, his hands roaming freely across Chloe's hips as they continued their heated duel, each one of them sighing and moaning into the other's mouths as their lips tangoed. Chloe gently nipped at his bottom lip as she drew it into her mouth.

Never, not in a million years would he have believed Chloe could kiss like this. Yes, they'd kissed before, several times in fact, and each one of those kisses, including the bittersweet embrace they'd shared at the Daily Planet paled in comparison to the sheer unbridled passion she had for him now. The way her soft, supple lips moved against his; the way she followed each long deep kiss with a smaller, gentler one. The sounds she made as his hands traversed her skin only served to spur him on and he pulled her closer, intensifying their passionate embrace a hundred fold.

Finally, after one last long kiss they two young lovers parted breathlessly. Clark returned his hand to Chloe's cheek, tracing the rim of her kiss swollen lips with the pad of his thumb as he haphazardly traced circles into her back with his free hand. Chloe gazed longingly into his piercing blue eyes for a long while, perfectly content with the silence that had enveloped the two of them. As if on cue her stomach lurched and let out a rumbling growl. Clark and Chloe both exchanged perplexed glances back and forth before erupting into a fit of laughter.

"Food Me, Kent" Chloe said in between giggles.

"Yes 'em" Clark drawled as he jumped to his feet, eliciting a surprised yelp from Chloe as he carried her with him.

"Trust me?" he asked as he scooped her up into his arms

"Implicitly" she replied

"And away we go" Clark said with a smile before disappearing from the loft in a blur of super speed, Chloe securely in tow.

The first soft golden rays flittered in through the open window in living room of the tiny apartment, bathing the room and the two slumbering lovers that lied entwined on the sofa in golden light. The persistent buzzing of an alarm clock echoed in the distance, stirring Clark from his slumber. Where was he? He question as he glanced around the bizarrely familiar room, his eyes settling on the small coffee table a few feet away. It was adorned with half burned candles and forgotten Chinese takeout boxes. A faint smile began to overtake his features as he thought back to the previous night.

"Mmmm" a whisper of a moan echoed and Clark shifted his gaze back to the sofa he lounged on. Chloe lay asleep across him, her corn silk hair splayed across his broad chest. Chloe shifted and snuggled deeper into his chest. Clark wrapped his left arm tighter around her waist as she curled herself around him. He brought his right arm up from its resting place at the Sofa's edge and ran his fingers through Chloe's silken hair, eliciting a content sigh from her slumbering form.

_'It was real'_he thought to himself as studied the angelic creature in his arms. He had never seen her look so content, so absolutely peaceful. Her soft pink lips where curled up in a faint smile and Clark couldn't help but wonder what it was she was dreaming about. He took a moment and just laid there listening to the constant thrumming of her heartbeat and the languid pattern of her breathing. He knew he should probably wake her, but how could he live with himself for disturbing such a beautiful creature? She was so serene; it would be a crime against nature for him to disturb her. Better to let her lay there all day, asleep across his chest than temp the fate of the God that seemed gracious enough to bring this golden haired angel into his life.

Clark closed his eyes and trained his ear on the rhythmic beating of her heartbeat, its steady cadence lulling him back to the verge of sleep. As he laid there, a slumbering Chloe in his arms, he thought back to the previous night and his smile widened as his thoughts drifted backward through time. So much had happened in so little time, it all seemed so impossible to remember and yet, it was something he was sure he would never forget.

They'd gone to south central Bakerline, one of the least affected boroughs of metropolis. There was a Chinese bistro there named The Golden Dragon, it had quickly become Chloe's favorite during her summer internship at the planet back in high school. It was a small, unassuming building painted in soft pastels, a stark contrast to the humble brownstone buildings that flanked either side. It was sweet and inviting, maybe even a little quirky. 'Just like her' he thought to himself as they walked through the door, hand in hand.

"So are we eating here?" Chloe asked as she and Clark made their way through the small foyer, and into the lobby of the restaurant.

It was a quaint little place. Something between a hole in the wall and a dive, but he liked it. Paper lanterns and Mache dragons hung from the ceiling. Decorative vases and gilded statuettes of Buddha lined the walls. Clark turned to face her, his eyes shining brightly despite the dim lighting. "I figured we'd grab and go." He said softly, gently kneading the back of her hand with his thumb. "We have some things we should probably talk about" he said flatly, his brow furrowing into the weight of the world look he usually sported as he spoke.

Chloe had to stifle a groan. '_Couldn't they just have one peaceful moment together without having to deal with the outside world's troubles? She didn't care about anything else right now except Clark and being with him. What was left for them to talk about? He had feelings, she had feelings…they kissed and we're now standing in the foyer of a Chinese restaurant in downtown metropolis and making with the PDA. End of story as far as she was concerned._Clark on the other hand, obviously had more he wanted to get off his chest and it was probably something she needed to hear, so she grudgingly relented.

"Let's go back to Lois's apartment to talk" Chloe suggested, trying to shift the setting of their next conversation in her favor. There was a burning splinter of a question in the back of her mind that had been there since their kiss in the loft and when she crossed that invisible line and asked Clark for the answer, she was at least going to do it in a place where she was comfortable.

"I have dry clothes there and won't freeze" Chloe teased, trying to ease the growing tension between Clark and herself.

"What about Lois?" He said flatly, trying to hide his disdain as for Lois as he spoke. Last thing he wanted was to have her barge in on them tonight.

"Your mom's got her going out to Park Ridge tonight" Chloe said, inwardly thankful for Lois' preordained absence.

"Sounds like a plan" Clark said as he lifted their paired hands to his lips and pressed a small, tender kiss against her knuckles. Chloe couldn't help but swoon at Clark's unashamed displays of affection.

"Hi how are you?" a voice came from behind the counter and both Chloe and Clark turned to see a small balding oriental man standing behind the counter.

"Fantastic" Chloe said reflexively, her emerald eyes locked on Clark's.

The man behind the counter grinned as he watched the sweet display between the two of them.  
"For here or to go?" he asked as pulled a pen from his shirt pocket and flipped open his notepad.

"To go" Clark answered flatly, his attention focused on Chloe. He knew he probably seemed rude, but at the moment he honestly didn't care. He couldn't take his eyes off Chloe, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and for the moment, she was his and his alone. As he gazed upon her, he found himself feeling unbelievably sorry for every other red blooded man on the face of the earth. None of them would ever know the warmth of her skin, or the taste of her lips. Being held in her emerald gaze was like standing at the gates of heaven. He was lost in the endless depths of her eyes, floating on the surface of those shimmering emerald pools. It was like he'd just reached the unreachable, and he wasn't ready for it.

"What can I get you?" the man behind the counter questioned

"I'll have the number 23 with fried rice and wanton soup" Chloe said. _Her usual order of curry chicken and vegetables would have to wait until next time. Chow Mein was probably the safer bet right now anyway. Somehow she figured Curry breath might not lend itself well to the night of sporadic kisses she and Clark and in store for themselves.  
_  
"That sounds good" Clark said as he scanned the menu above the counter. "I'll have the same"

"The same, huh?" Chloe asked coyly, flirtatiously raising an eyebrow as she spoke.

"What?" Clark asked as he handed the man behind the counter his debit card, not paying attention to the price he was given. "Too soon for that?" he asked jokingly

"I think it's cute" she said with a giggle as she snuggled herself against him and Clark rested his chin against her hair. His eyes closed as the soft honeysuckle scent of her perfume wafted up to him. He'd never in his wildest dreams believed he was capable of such happiness. Standing here, with Chloe in his arms, ordering Chinese food was without a doubt one of the best moments of his existence.

The stood motionless for a long time, content to stand in the epicenter of the restaurant's lobby, lost in one another's eyes. All too soon their order was ready, and Clark let out a muffled whimper as he had to pull himself from the comfort of Chloe's embrace. He pulled away slowly, keeping the fingers of his left hand entwined with hers as made his way to the counter. He quickly scrawled his name across the bottom of the receipt and grabbed the brown paper bag from counter.

"Let's get out of here" He said as Chloe came up to the counter and took the bag out of his hands. He shot her a quizzical glance as they turned to head out the way they'd entered a few minutes prior.

"I've got the food." She said as he held open the door for her to pass through. _'Always the gentleman' _Chloe thought to herself as Clark followed her out onto the street. "You're driving, remember?" She said as Clark took her hand once more and led her into the alleyway at the corner. The streets were deserted and he still felt the irrepressible need to safeguard his secret.

"Ready Ms. Sullivan?" Clark asked as he escorted her into the darkened alley, sweeping it with his X-ray vision to ensure that the coast was clear. The last thing he wanted was for some unlucky purse snatcher to decide to make Chloe his next target.

"Up up and away" Chloe said, grinning as Clark effortlessly scooped her into his arms. He planted a quick kiss to her cheek before everything became a blur. In less than a fraction of a second the darkened streets of metropolis had been replaced by the familiar gold and purples of the Talon's lobby. Clark smiled at Chloe, spinning the two of the round and round a few turns before heading towards the stairs.

"I can walk, you know" Chloe said jokingly as Clark raced up the stairs, effortlessly taking them two or even three at a time.

"I know" Clark said as he hopped up the last of the steps and made his way down the length of the hallway that led to Chloe's apartment. Chloe rested her head against his shoulder as he carried her down the walkway, finally letting herself enjoy the feeling of Clark sweeping her off her feet in the last few moments of their journey. She smiled to herself as Clark rested his cheek against her hair.

"Home sweet home" She said as they reached the purple door at the end of the hall. Reluctantly Clark lowered Chloe to the ground. His expression souring as she slid from his arms. Thought they'd only entered into this undefined phase in their relationship less than an hour ago, Clark could definitively say that he didn't feel complete unless she was in his arms. Chloe was the last puzzle piece to his broken heart, and it hurt to let go of her, even for the slightest amount of time.

"Just give me a second" Chloe said as she fished her key from the depths of her purse, inwardly cursing the person who invented the damned things to begin with. Why was it when you desperately needed something out of one of these things, it magically found itself at the bottom, buried under make up, a wallet and at least a week's worth of crumpled receipts from every fast food restaurant in the area? She finally produced her keys from the extra-dimensional beyond that was her purse, only to fumble with the lock.

"Oh come on" she groaned as she continued to struggle with the derelict contraption. Finally the door swung free of its restraint and Chloe stepped into her apartment, leaving Clark in the doorway.

"I'll be right back" she said as she turned to glance over her shoulder at him.

"I'm not going anywhere" Clark said as Chloe closed the door gently.

Chloe deposited the bag of Chinese food onto the small table she kept in the entry way as she reclined against the back of the door. Her knees, which had been knocking together since she first pulled up outside the Kent home earlier tonight finally decided to give way and she slid down several inches. Her heart thundered in her chest. She could practically feel it swell against her ribcage with each and every beat. After a few moments rest she shrugged out of Clark's red jacket and drew in a quick breath of air and ran a hand through her tousled locks to calm herself. She'd left Clark out in the hall for a reason, and now she couldn't remember why.

"Chloe, you okay in there? Clark's voice echoed from the other side of the door, jarring Chloe from her trance.

"Uh" she stammered nervously " Yeah, I'm fine" she said as she forced herself away from the back of the door and deeper into the apartment. She gave the living room a once over as she passed through, satisfied that her apartment wasn't too much of a total wreck. She made a bee line for the small bookcase against the wall. She pulled a thin red book from the third shelf, and flipped through its glossy pages, her smiling waning some as she scanned through the book of memories from her high school days. There was a lot of bad blood in between these pages, but there was also much happiness to be found. Looking back on it now, she couldn't help but wonder just how many times Clark Kent had saved the day back then, how many times had he pulled her back from the brink of death.

"Ah" she said as she flipped to the back of the book and found what she was looking for. There, between the glossy photos of herself, Clark and Pete in the Torch office and the appendix was a small folded piece of paper. Chloe's hand trembled slightly as she reached into the book and removed the worn and faded letter, trying valiantly to fight back the swell of resentment that grew inside of her as the surge of painful memories this tiny note dredged up began to take root.

"Things were different then" Chloe reminded herself aloud as she closed the book and slid it back onto the shelf. "Things are different now" she told herself as she turned on her heel ran back to the bag of Chinese food waiting on the side table. She quickly unpacked their food and arranged it on the small coffee table in the living room. She took a cue from Clark's earlier romanticism and placed a few votives across the tabletop, bathing the room I flickering golden light. Chloe surveyed her work for a moment before racing back the door, nearly forgetting she'd left Clark waiting in the hallway.

"Sorry it took so long" Chloe said as she flung open the door and found Clark pacing in a small square outside her door. He stopped dead in his tracks and beamed at her

"S'okay" He mumbled as he stepped into the familiar apartment. "You're worth the wait" He said softly, and Chloe swore he heart skipped a few beats as he brushed past her and made his way deeper into the living room. Chloe pushed the door shut behind her and followed Clark into the living room.

"So…" Clark huffed nervously as he lowered himself onto the sofa.

"So…" Chloe echoed him as she took her seat on the cushion next to him.

"Dinner?" Clark suggested after a long, awkward silence settled between the two of them. Chloe shifted her gaze back and forth between the candlelit table and Clark for a few seconds while her mind tried to choke its way through a decision as she found herself lost in the reflection of the candlelight in Clark's eyes.

"Not yet" she whispered, her voice quivering a little as she spoke. She was rapidly approaching the point of no return, and the burning question in the back of her mind burned hotter than ever.

"Clark" she breathed, summing up the last remains scraps of her courage. Clark had said his piece in the loft, and now it was her turn. Now she understood why Clark had been so nervous, neither one of them had much experience or success when it came to emotional honesty. "I need…" Chloe stammered and Clark reached between them and took one of her small hands in both of his larger ones. "I need you to read this" she said as she slid the crumpled note across the sofa and into Clark's hands.

"What's this?" he questioned as he lifted the folded piece of paper and turned it over in his hands.

"Read it Clark" Chloe whispered, tears in her voice. "Please?"

Clark gave a gentle nod as he stared deep into her pleading eyes. Whatever it was that it was so important to her, Clark wasn't about to let her down. He unfolded the small scrap of paper and shifted his gaze to it. There was a paragraph written in Chloe's flowing script, and Clark cleared his throat as he scanned the page.

"I want to let you in on a little secret, Clark" He read, his voice wavering a as he watched Chloe stiffened on the couch next to him. "I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin; I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me." The beginnings of tears began to well in both of their eyes as he read on. "I'm the girl of your dreams, masquerading as your best friend"  
Clark sucked in a deep breath of much needed air and kept his eyes trained on the page before him, he knew in pit of his stomach that if he dared to glance over the edge of the page and looked into Chloe's eyes, if he saw the look on her face, the last remnants of his self control would fade away into the ether, never too be seen again.

"Sometimes" he began weakly, tears in his voice

"Sometimes I want to rip off this façade like I did at the spring formal" Clark winced slightly as the memory of he and Chloe's dance, and the kiss they never got to share played in his mind. "But I can't because you'll get scared and run away again. So I decided that it's better to live with the lie than expose my true feelings."

Chloe let out muffled sob as Clark made his way through the remainder of the letter. She was an open book to him now, exposed and vulnerable. She had trusted Clark with her life time and time again, and as she listened to him read her own protestation of love back to her, word for word she knew at once that she was finally ready to trust him with her heart.

"My dad told me there are two types of girls; the ones you grow out of, and the ones you grow into." Clark dared a glance over the lip of the page and immediately locked eyes with Chloe, her olive eyes shining in the flickering candlelight. Of all of her words that he'd read, none of them rang truer than the ones he just read. 'the ones you grow out of, and the ones you grow in to' , in that one crystal clear moment he felt the last remaining threads of the love he felt for Lana break away, and for the first time in a long time he was free. Free to truly see Chloe the way he she deserved to be seen. He cut his eyes back to the letter he held in his trembling hands as the tears began to fall.

"I really hope I'm the latter. I may not be the one you love today, but I'll let you go for now, hoping one day you'll fly back to me. "Clark lowered the letter and took Chloe's hand in his own, their fingers intertwined as their eyes locked. Stinging tears blazed hot trails down both their cheeks as they gazed lovingly at one another. Chloe bit the corner of her lower lip anxiously as she waited for Clark to finish the last line.

"Because…" Clark sobbed

"Because I think you're worth the wait" Clark gazed wordlessly at Chloe as the severity of what he just read took hold. There were so many things he wished he could say. He wished he could say he was sorry, wished that he could tell her that if he had known just how she had felt in those days that it would have changed anything, even though deep down he knew it wouldn't have.

"_Chloe_" he breathed as the last of the tears tracked down his cheek. Chloe slid across the cushion between them and cupped his cheek in her palm as she gazed longingly into his cerulean eyes. Clark moved to speak, but Chloe silenced him with a finger against his lips.

"Before you say anything" she said slowly, her finger never leaving his lips as she spoke.  
"I want you to know that I love you Clark Kent" she said, and fresh tears began to well in her eyes. "Don't feel like you have to say it back. I just wanted you to hear me say it"

Clark placed his hand over Chloe's, holding it against his face. "I wish I could say it" he said as Chloe's finger left his lips and she trailed her fingertips across the line of his cheekbone and threaded her fingers into his silken hair. "But until I can, I give you my word." Clark said as he inched closer to Chloe, his lips hovering just above hers. "I'll never run away again" he whispered as he pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss.

The rest of the night had been a blur of kisses and casual conversation over Chinese food. They talked about everything and nothing all at once. Clark found himself overcome by the intense need to know everything about her, even the things he already knew. It may have been that he just loved the sound of her voice, or the fact that for the first time in his life he could be completely honest and open with someone he cared deeply for.

The alarm clock sounded in the distance, jarring Clark from his reverie. He shifted his position on the sofa and accidently trailed his cold toes across the back of Chloe's calf, eliciting a sharp hiss from the sleeping beauty.

"Hunh?" Chloe groaned lazily and Clark inwardly cursed himself for waking her as she stirred from her slumber. She glanced around sleepily for a few moments, obviously trying to piece together an explanation as to why she had spent the night canoodling with him on her sofa.

"Morning" Clark said after a long pause, and Chloe darted her gaze back towards him, her earlier smile retracing her features.

"Mmmhmm" She groaned as she gave a weak nod in agreement. Clark let out a brief chuckle as she laid back across his chest, her arms folded under her chin as she gazed into his eyes. He returned his hand to her face, tracing the rim of her left ear with the pad of his thumb as he tucked a few loose stands of hair out of her face.

"Guess we dozed off" He said flatly as she momentarily shifted his gaze back to the takeout boxes on the coffee table. Chloe smiled up at him, lazily tracing circles on his chest as he continued to toy with her hair. The alarm clock sounded again and Chloe rolled her eyes in irritation. Reluctantly she turned her eyes away from Clark's and glanced back at the offending appliance on her bedside table. Her eyes widened in terror as she read the time on the clock face. 'Six forty two' blinked in an out. The pulsating LED had instantly become a harbinger of doom.

"I'm late!" she balked as she leapt onto her feet, leaving a very confused Clark behind on the couch.

"What?" Clark questioned as he sat up on his elbows and followed Chloe's gaze towards the blinking clock, his own eyes widening as he read the time. "Oh damn"

"Ya think!" Chloe said over her shoulder as she tried to straighten some of the wrinkles out of her clothes. She didn't have the time to shower, or change and most importantly she didn't have time for her morning coffee. By now she normally would have been four cups in on her daily caffeine quota, and without it her entire universe was bound to be tragically askew.

"Hey" Clark called to her as she frantically paced back and forth around the living room, trying to hurriedly piece her outfit back together.

"Clark, where'd my shoes get o-"Was as far as Chloe got before Clark spun her around and captured her lips in a tender kiss. Her eyes closed and her arms locked themselves around his neck as his lips swept across hers. _'What the hell'_ she thought as she let one of her high heels slip from her grasp as she wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. _'I can be a few minutes late to work'_.


	3. Chapter Two, Revelations Pt1

The Rise of Superman

Written by Blade_1582

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I've revamped the story and made various changes to some of the already posted chapters. Nothing major, just some cosmetic and continuity stuff. Cheers!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville, Superman or anything related to DC Comics other than a cache of comics and a handful of old action figures. Please don't sue me, I'm broke enough as it is.

* * *

**Part Two**_  
Revelations_

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Chloe drummed her pen against the wooden desktop in agitation, a gnarled nub of a pencil held tightly in her pursed lips as she stared at the blinking cursor on her computer monitor in abject hatred. Not only was she two hours away from a deadline with nothing but half an article and a raging case of writer's block to show for it, but she'd spent every waking minute of her morning futilely trying to ditch her newly acquired, chain smoking slut of a desk ornament and to top it all off, she was _still_ caffeine deprived.

"Still not going to tell me anything?" Cat questioned as she nonchalantly examined her finely manicured fingernails in the light. Something, Chloe noted, that she was very fond of doing. "Nope" Chloe mumbled around the pencil held between her lips as she scanned over the first few paragraphs of her article in a vain attempt to jump start the creative process.

"Aw c'mon" Cat whined impatiently as she lowered herself into the chair opposite Chloe's desk. "You've got to give me something. Anything" She implored desperately, her face contorted into something that Chloe could only hope was supposed to be a pout. "Please Sully?" Cat droned, and Chloe's left eye twitched involuntarily at the sound of the de facto nickname her coworker had saddled her with. She chomped down on the pencil held in her teeth in response, cringing as the wood splintered and filled her mouth with the acrid taste of graphite. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee." Cat said, her voice jumping up an octave as she tried to coax Chloe with promises of caffeine.

'_Damn you Cat Grant!'_ Chloe cursed inwardly as she stared at her bothersome coworker in slack jawed dumbfounded-ness. _'Caffeine, my only weakness' _Chloe let out a dark chuckle in response to her own dejected musings. Trying to coerce information out of her by praying on her caffeine addiction was low, even by Cat's standards. Never the less, Chloe temporarily abandoned the moral high ground she usually clung to where Cat was concerned and indulged her imagination. Suddenly she was immersed in a magnificent dream world where she downed cup after steaming cup of her beloved addiction. She savored the delicious memory of a hot mug warming her cool hands, lost herself in the robust bouquet that tickled her nose and teased her pallet. Chloe was half a heartbeat away from relenting and giving in to the undisputed queen of inner office gossip when a shrill cry that sounded vaguely similar to her name echoed from the elevator foyer, followed shortly by the staccato clacks of stilettos against marble tile at a hasty gate. She dared a glance over her computer monitor's edge and found Lois forcing her way through the crowded bullpen like a brunette battering ram. As unhappy as Chloe was to see a rather perturbed looking Lois Lane making a beeline for her desk, she couldn't help but sink lower into her bout of depression when she realized that her cousin wasn't totting a Styrofoam carrier full of hazelnut goodness. Chloe shot a pleading gaze in Cat's direction and found the annoying bleach blonde setting cross legged in a chair opposite her desk, a lit cigarette clasped between her fingers and a wide eyed and amused expression plastered across her face.

"Hehe" Cat chortled as Lois continued to trudge in their direction. "Chloe is in trouble" She crooned mockingly, and Chloe shot her a pointed glare. "Shut up" Chloe snarled, bracing herself for the inevitable assault.

"Cuz" Lois huffed as she emerged from the crowd and marched up to the edge of Chloe's desk "We need to talk". Chloe gulped loudly as her cousin dumped her purse onto her already cluttered desktop with an alarmingly heavy _'thunk'_ and folded her arms across her chest. Everything about Lois's demeanor screamed 'pissed off' and it wasn't too hard to imagine why. There was only one person that could get on her nerves like this, and it happened to be the one person that Chloe had spent the night with on Lois's couch. 'Where's Clark when I need him?' She asked herself as she stared wordlessly at an expectant Lois, a cold ball of anxious fear began to form in the pit of her swirling stomach and she found herself feeling rather thankful that she hadn't had her customary ten cups of coffee by now. Surely if there had been anything in her stomach at this moment, she would have thrown up.

"h-hey" Chloe stuttered, tripping over her own tongue as she removed the broken pencil from her mouth and fought to form the simple salutation. Her verbal faux pas eliciting a torrent of muffled giggles from Cat. Lois turned and cut a burning glare in Cat's direction, her eyes narrowing into slits as she stared at the intruding tramp in utter disdain. Cat whimpered feebly, let out a nervous chuckle and then found herself very interested in the pattern of floor tiles beneath her chair.

"Have you just gone stupid or something?" Lois questioned as she shifted her weight back onto her right leg, leaving her free to tap her left foot anxious as she waited an inappropriate amount of seconds for what she believed should have been an immediate and concise response from her cousin.

"What are you talking about?" Chloe managed to spit out amidst glances between her infuriated cousin and her endlessly amused co-worker.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about Chloe" Lois snapped and Cat hissed involuntarily at the harsh tone of her words. Chloe recoiled from the verbal assault and raised a daring eyebrow in question. _'Was the reckless and irresponsible Lois Lane, of all people, giving her the mother hen routine?'_

"I come home last night and find you and Clark playing snuggle bunnies on MY couch!" Lois barked and Cat's jaw hit the ground in amazement. The quaint bit of inner office gossip she'd been observing had just morphed into a full-fledged soap opera right before her eyes. A megawatt smile graced her flawless features as she stared at Chloe Sullivan in dumbfounded awe. The unassuming cub reporter had bagged and bedded the hunky farm boy in less than a day, Cat was proud. "You and the farmer?" She exclaimed excitedly, her shrill squeal drawing the attention of half of the office and turning Chloe's alabaster cheeks as dreaded shade of crimson in the process.

"It wasn't like that" Chloe said, more to Cat than to Lois. The last thing she needed was for Cat to start spreading rumors about her hypothetical sex life around the office, it would be like blood in the water.

"The hell it wasn't" Lois spat.

"Lois" Chloe whispered her cousin's name so sharply through her clenched teeth that it came out as a low, warning hiss.

"Don't _'Lois'_ me, Blondie" Lois snapped, her tone beginning to sound more and more militant as she spoke. A trait she'd obviously inherited from The General. "You know what Clark Kent does to you" She said pleadingly, an angry edge still clinging to her words as she spoke. Chloe's mind was suddenly filled with the images of a years old memories, countless summer night spent sitting with Lois on her bed, face buried in her cousin's lap as she lay there crying her eyes out again and again over how Clark had up and abandoned her at the Spring Formal to race to Lana's aid.

'_Lois if you only knew the kind of person he really is'_ Chloe thought as she watched the memories that came flooding back_. 'The things he's done for me, for you, for everyone'_ Chloe's thoughts shifted, and visions of Jonathon's funeral played before her eyes. She remembered the sad, knowing look in Clark's eyes as he watched the only man he could call father being lowered into the cold, snow covered ground. She winced at the tears in his voice as he'd valiantly tried to shoulder the weight his father had carried all those years and tried to console his grieving mother. _'And the things he's given up'_

"Chloe I cannot and will not be the one to pick up the piece this time around" Lois said sharply, her voice wavering ever so slightly, her façade of self righteous anger cracking just enough for Chloe to see the genuine concern that lingered beneath her cousin's brash display. In her own stupid, nonsensical way, Lois was trying to protect her. Chloe could understand and even appreciate every ounce of Lois's misplaced anger. Anger that would surely melt into nothingness if she could only bear witness to the hero that was Clark Kent and see that, as cliché as it sounded, he was Chloe's hero.

"Times change, Lo" Chloe said softly, her emerald eyes locked onto her cousin's chocolate ones and burned with an unmistakable intensity as she spoke "People change" Chloe paused, scanning Lois's eyes for any sign of understanding and then continued. "for once in my life I'm happy. Honest to god happy and you have the gall to come in here and rip me a new one _IN FRONT OF MY COWORKERS_ because I dared to fall in love with someone good and decent. "Chloe trailed for a moment, trying valiantly to contain the hurt that bubbled to the surface with every pained word she spoke. "I don't need you to pick up the pieces anymore, Lois" she said after a moment's pause, unshed tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "That's what I have Clark for" She snapped pointedly, whipping a stinging tear from her eye with the back of her hand as she snatched her purse from its resting place, turned on her heel and marched out of the newsroom, leaving two very dumbfounded and slack jawed women at her desk.

'_Cenntinal Park at midday'_ Chloe sighed half heartedly as she sat back against the weather beaten park bench beneath an overgrown oak tree. A fain wisp of a smile played at the corners of her lips as the wood panels of the bench creaked as her weight settled upon them. She absolutely loved this park, no matter what recent chaos saw fit to bombard metropolis this one place somehow managed to remain a haven of tranquility. The blaring car horns, swearing cabbies and throngs of flat footed pedestrians chatting away on cell phones as they relentlessly pounded the pavement could find no purchase against the blissful serenity of the park.

'_almost as quiet as Smallville'_ Chloe mused lightheartedly as she reclined against the worn backing of the park bench and let her eyes flutter closed as she let the sounds of the birds in the trees above sooth her frazzled nerves. Her mind was still reeling from the would be intervention Lois had taken upon herself to hold at her place of work, right in front of the world renowned busy body Cat Grant no less. Chloe let out a ragged, agitated huff. She could feel her pulse quicken in response to the torrent of all too recent unpleasant memories that seemed to invade her thoughts with each and every breath she took.

'_So much for relaxation'_ she sighed despondently as she massaged her pulsating temples with her fingertips. As much as it pained Chloe to admit it, deep down she knew that Lois had only been trying to protect her. 'Still' Chloe thought bitterly, _'the nerve of that woman'. _She let out another prolonged huff and tried to banish the irritating thoughts from her mind before they managed to further corrupt the state of serenity she was desperately striving to attain. If she was going to be honest with herself, something she'd spent the last half hour trying to avoid, she almost had to laugh at the truly pathetic state of her affairs. Here she was, sitting in the park in the wake of a crisis that had literally rocked the city to its core, futilely trying to clear her beleaguered mind and forget about her oh so subtle cousin's unwanted and unwarranted intrusion into what little love life she actually had while her other worldly boyfriend was, at this very moment working behind the scenes doing everything within his considerable power to keep the city from collapsing in on itself…

"Gah!" She exclaimed loudly, frightening a nearby group of young children as they played with a Frisbee. Chloe turned and eyed them apologetically and gave them a feeble smile that only served to scare them off once and for all.

"Where's Clark when I need him?" She asked herself as she laid back against the bench once more and rubbed the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger in an all but futile attempt to curb the mounting tension with her.

Lois threw a pair of folded twenties at the driver and quickly slid off of the leather seating, slamming the taxi door shut behind her. The irritated cabbie let out a stream of unintelligible swears before peeling out and leaving Lois standing forgotten on the street corner in a cloud of white smoke. It had taken several awkward phone calls, two cabs and the better part of an hour for Lois to actually track her wayward cousin down. She passed under the antique iron archway that marked the western entrance to Cenntinal Park. A faint smile played on the edges of her lips as she thought back to summer vacations in her early childhood. She and Chloe had spent day after day playing in the park when they were younger. She remembered how the two of them would sit under the oak trees on the hilltop at the center of the park with Chloe's mother. Aunt Moira had always said that on a clear day like today, you could see the whole park from that hilltop. Lois eyes widened and she let out a shocked gasp as the realization donned on her. She knew where Chloe was! With renewed fervor Lois took off at a run, eliciting several complaints and angry jeers as she bobbed and weaved her way through crowds that lined the cobblestone path as fast as her aching feet would carry her. Several yards and a ruined pair of designer heels later, Lois found her cousin sitting on a familiar weather beaten bench beneath a massive sprawling oak.

"Hey" Lois said breathlessly as she crossed the distance between herself and Chloe at a hesitant gait, ignoring the sharp stabbing pain that shot through her pinched toes with every step. She noted that running through the park in a pair of size too-small heels wasn't exactly conducive to podiatric well being as she came to rest behind the bench. Chloe remained stoic, eyes forward and shoulders squared in a blatant attempt to ignore Lois.

"You know, the silent treatment is a little petty" Lois said lightheartedly, vainly trying to diffuse the palpable tension that radiated between herself and Chloe.

"Taking a page from your playbook" Chloe spat without so much as a backwards glance. Lois winced at the sharpness of Chloe's words. "Okay" Lois trailed warily as she rounded the edge of the bench and sat down next to her cousin. "I deserved that" She said, a veiled apology lingering in her wry tone.

"Oh and so much more…" Chloe snapped between gritted teeth.

"I guess it would be the understatement of the century if I said I was out of line earlier" Lois whispered, her voice heavy with regret as she sidestepped Chloe's pointed barb. Chloe fought back the urge to turn and look at Lois, knowing full well that if she sat eyes on her disheveled cousin her resolve would crumble and she'd forgive her far sooner than she actually wanted to.

"Yup" Was her only reply.

"Or that I was uncharacteristically immature…" Lois trailed, a cold lump of anxiety forming in the pit of her stomach as she spoke.

"I'll say" Chloe said with a dark chuckle.

"Look" Lois said with a dry snarl and Chloe whipped around to face her, hair flipping in the breeze and emerald eyes blazing. "I know you're pissed at me but I'm trying okay? Apologies aren't exactly my strong suit. "Lois said shakily, an anxious edge in her voice. " It's not my place to get involved in you and Clark's…" Lois paused, her tongue refusing to help form a simple word. Chloe eyed her warily, her olive eyes narrowing into slits as she waited impatiently for Lois to finish.

"_Relationship_" Lois stammered, her expression souring at the taste of the word left in her mouth. Chloe eyed her for a few seconds, her expression of amusement and honest confusion. "Well" Chloe said after a long pause. "That must've hurt to say"

"You have no idea" Lois said jokingly and Chloe relented, letting out an earnest chuckle in response.

"Chloe…" Lois trailed through muffled chuckles and gasps for air. " I love you like a sister, you know that" She said nervously, anxiously wringing her hands in an obvious display of her discomfort. Emotional displays weren't something that Lanes handled well, Chloe knew this. The General's way of expressing any kind of pleased emotion was a slightly less frightening scowl than he usually wore, so Lois's emotionally stunted behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Lo." Chloe said softly, laying her hands on top of her cousin's trembling ones. "You don't have to play big sister for me anymore, okay? I know what I'm doing" Chloe said softly, her voice trembling and the beginnings of tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she and Lois crossed the invisible line that had always defined their relationship.

"I know that" Lois said in a whisper. "I just don't want to see you get hurt"

"I won't" Chloe said brightly, her thoughts drifting to Clark. Lois gave her a reluctant smile and patted her cousin's hand. "Am I forgiven?" She questioned warily, unsure of what to say or do next.

"Almost" Chloe said, a mischievous grin playing at her lips as she rose and hauled Lois up from her seat. "Let's go."

The elevator doors opened with a metallic lurch and Clark stepped out into the tiled foyer of the Daily Planet building. Thankfully the usually crowded room was relatively empty, that is to stay that there was actually some discernable amount of breathing room as opposed to the proverbial sardine can that it usually was. Clark strode through the double doors leading into the heart of the newsroom, his precious package clutched to his chest in attempt to keep it from being smashed into oblivion by some hapless, bumbling reporter. He'd spent nearly half an hour waltzing around aimlessly in a tiny florist's shop on the outskirts of Park Ridge trying to put together a small bouquet for Chloe. Too timid to actually approach the vine encrusted counter and ask for help, it wasn't until the shop's owner had come up to him and rather bluntly asked if he needed help or if he was just casing the joint.

With the awkwardness somewhat abated Clark proceeded to explain her and Chloe's rather delicate situation to Dinah. He told her about their friendship, about how her feelings for him had gone unrequited for years and how he'd seen the light and mercifully been granted a second chance to embrace his own burgeoning feelings for her. Feelings he was only beginning to understand. When it was all said and done he'd emerged from Sherwood Florist with a simple but delicate bouquet of yellow daises and a single long stemmed rose, tied together with a length of shimmering blue ribbon. From what Dinah had told him apparently all flowers had a meaning of some kind. How and why different flowers meant different things was well beyond him but he went along with it.

The daises, he'd been told, symbolized innocence. Fitting, given how utterly new this phase of their relationship was. The red rose was a classic if not clichéd symbol of passion and romance, that one had been his choice. Clark knew that it wasn't the most original of flowers but there was just something about the symbolism of a rose that called to him. With his flowers chosen and packaged in a simple glass vase, he left, taking the shop keep's obligatory well wishes with him.

Now he found himself worming his way through the maze of empty desks searching for any sign of his favorite tiny blonde reporter but she was nowhere to be found. '_It's one thirty in the afternoon' _Clark thought to himself as he continued to weasel his way through the labyrinth of desks _'Chloe usually ate lunch around eleven thirty, whenever she actually did eat anyway. She should be back at her desk by now'_. Clark's smile faded once he reached her desk and found it empty. Her computer monitor dark and her purse nowhere to be seen. With a disappointed sigh he set the vase on her desk and plucked a pen from the wire cup that sat just behind her bronzed name plate as he unfolded a piece of stiff parchment he'd picked up on his way out of the florist.

'_Thank you for a wonderful evening. Have dinner with me tonight? We need a real first date, that is if you want to….uh…yeah, call me. – Clark'_

Clark huffed as he read over the hastily scrawled note, his expression souring. He'd wanted to be suave and romantic; instead he's come across like some kind of dumbstruck bumpkin who couldn't get a word out. Granted, it wasn't too far from the truth at the moment but still. He was just about to place the folded note on Chloe's desk when a hauntingly familiar voice echoed from behind him, sending a cold shiver coursing down his spine.

"What's with the flowers, Clark?" Lana asked curiously, a dry edge playing at her voice when she spoke his name. Nervously, Clark whipped around to face his ex and nearly sent Chloe's monitor tumbling off the lip of her desk as he went.

"Lana" He said blankly, his voice jumping up a half octave in shock as he came to face her, quickly placing himself between her and the vase he'd just deposited on Chloe's desk. The last thing he wanted was to get into the inevitable spat with Lana over Chloe here of all places. Knowing his luck, Chloe would walk through the door just as whatever argument they were about to have reached a fever pitch and he was really trying to keep today firmly in the _'good day'_ column.

"Chloe's my roommate, Clark" Lana said pointedly, eyes narrowing in agitation as she took stock of Clark's ever shifting behavior. "I didn't realize I needed a reason to visit".

"You don't" Clark stammered anxiously as Lana edged closer to the desk. On the defensive once again, Clark mirrored her movements, blocking her view of Chloe's desk with his body.

"The Met U dorms are being closed because of all the damage to the campus." Lana said as she snaked past around Clark and went to the other side of the desk. Clark let out a low hiss, as she glided past him, knowing that it wouldn't be long before their conversation went from strained to downright awkward. "I needed to see when Chloe could come by and get her stuff out" Lana said wistfully as she trailed a manicured fingernail around the vase's rim. "Nice flowers Clark. What's the special occasion? Don't tell me that you an Chloe are something of an item now" She asked dryly as she plucked the small parchment card from its resting place on Chloe's keyboard and Clark let out an audible gulp as she unfolded it.

"Actually…" Clark mumbled under his breath.

Lana's hazel eyes widened in shock as they swept over the note scrawled across the parchment in Clark's nearly illegible script. She couldn't believe what she was reading, much less the connection between the card, the flowers and the generally guilty expression fixed on Clark's face. Jealousy and something resembling the bitter pain of betrayal burned through her like a cold fire. Her almond eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at the flowers staring up at her from atop Chloe's desk, her eyes fixated on the single red rose.

'_It can't be'_ Lana mused in shock as she shifted her gaze from the flower to Clark and back again. _'Clark and Chloe?'_Lana dared to look back to the card still clutched in her now trembling hand, and her suspicions were doubly confirmed. '_No. Never' _She told herself, desperately trying to make sense of the maelstrom of thoughts swirling around in her mind. _'Clark was her ex, and their relationship had been so rocky…full of ups and downs. Chloe was her best friend….there was no way she would betray her trust like this…'_ And then Lana started to think about it, really think about. Her thoughts drifted to all the knowing glances and whispered conversations Chloe and Clark had shared, especially towards the end of her and Clark's tumultuous relationship. She thought about how close they had always been, and how much closer they had recently become. There was always a lingering connection between Chloe and Clark. A connection that she had never been able to match, not even close.

"When did this happen?" Lana questioned half-heartedly as she opened her hand and let the folded card tumble back towards the desktop.

"Just" Clark said earnestly, a cautious edge to his voice. Warily he stepped closer, his posture a personification of sympathy. "Lana..."

Lana winced at the heartfelt way that Clark breathed her name. She never noticed until now how sad it sounded as it fell from his lips. "Good for you" She hissed scornfully, "You two deserve each other"

"Lana, please" Clark said pleadingly, trying to diffuse the palpable tension that radiated between them before it reached a boiling point. Their romance may have gone the way of the dodo, but Clark wasn't about the let their friendship fall apart over a something as petty as misplaced jealousy. "We were going to tell you, I swear."

"So tell me about it Clark" Lana said pointedly, hands flying to her hips as she spoke. Clark swallowed hard and shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting up to the ceiling as he offered up a silent prayer to whatever god that would listen and be willing to get him out of this hellish scenario.

"There isn't much to tell" Clark said honestly. "We kissed, we talked and now Chloe and I both have decided that our feelings too strong to ignore."

"I wasn't aware that _you_ had feelings Clark" Lana snarled angrily from behind clenched teeth.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time that you were oblivious to my feelings, Lana" Clark spat back, fed up with Lana's self righteous indignation. He had nothing to be ashamed of, and he wasn't going to be made to feel like he did.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Lana questioned. Clark moved to respond but the newsroom erupted into chaos. A horde of frenzied reporters burst through the doorway, Clark and Lana both turned towards the growing maw that rapidly overtook the too-small newsroom.

"Gas Main burst" Clark managed to glean from one of the passing reporters as he scribbled notes onto a pocket sized pad. "Right in the middle of Centennial Park, fire department can't get through because of all the street damage" The man mumbled to himself, mulling over the details of the article he was preparing. Clark's eyes went wide, and he cut his eyes back and forth between Lana and the crowd that had enveloped them. Finding her distracted by the ensuing chaos, Clark stepped into current of bodies and then disappeared from the room in a blur of motion, praying that he wasn't too late.

Rudy Jones, a slovenly, balding lump of a man took a large bite out of the hot dog in his hand; his third in the last few minutes. A glob of mustard squirted out from between the buns and landed square on the front of his gray work shirt. "Sonofa-" He slurred, bits of half chewed frank rolling around in his wide open trap as he wiped at the mustard stain with the edge of a fat finger, further smearing it across the front of his Luthorcorp maintenance uniform.

"Jones stop stuffing yer face an' get over here" A gruff voice echoed from deeper with the maintenance shaft. Rudy let out a rattling burp and hauled his girth up from its resting place on a filth ridden length of concrete walkway that lead down the underground work shaft. With a hefty grunt He turned and began to lumber his way down to the other end of the tunnel where his partner, Bibbo Bibbowski was working on one of the several severed gas lines that connected the Luthorcorp utility junction to the rest of New Troy's utility lines. Right now only the outlying Burroughs had gas…downtown was still a mess.

"Hold your horses Bibbo" Rudy grunted, hitching up the sagging waistband of his sagging trousers as he jogged further down the tunnel, the muck and stagnant water that sat on the floor of the tunnel sloshing with each of his heavy footfalls. "I'm coming".

Bibbo huffed as Rudy trotted to a stop and slumped against the damp concrete wall of the maintenance shaft. 'What a bum' Bibbo thought to himself as he tightened the bolts on the metal plate he'd secured over a blown section of gas piping before he welding it in place, after Jones turned off the secondary gas valve so they didn't blow themselves sky high. That was the routine. They'd been down here for six hours now and they were only a quarter of the way done because Jones moved about as fast as molasses going uphill in January. At this rate, he was looking at a good twelve to fourteen hour shift, and Luthor didn't pay overtime. He was going to dead tired with almost nothing to show for it all because Rudy had to stop and stuff his ever widening rear every few minutes. How could one man eat so much? It was just disgusting.

"Man Bibbo I hate this stinkin' job" Rudy complained, collapsing into a heap on the concrete lip of the tunnel's floor. "I ain't cut out for this kinda work"

"Uh huh" Bibbo groaned to himself as he watched Jones recline back against the piping that ran parallel to where he was working, the stressed pipes groaned in protest as Rudy's hefty weight settled down on them. "Did'ya clamp down the number two valve?"

"Jesus Christ, whaddaya think I was doing down there, huh?" Rudy snorted as he pointed back down the shaft to where he'd come from.

"What, you mean besides empty every roach coach from here to the Burnley?"Bibbo said with a gruff chuckle as he rolled the grease stained sleeves of his shirt up over his muscled forearms and turned back to his work. Rudy Jones was exactly the kind of person he couldn't stand. A lazy, no account bum who did nothing but lay around and complain about how hard he had it. He didn't know anything about living the hard life, not like Bibbo did.

Bibbo Bibbowski was a fighter, a damned good one. An old school boxer, back when fighting was a man's sport and not just some showy gimmick for selling under arm deodorant like it was now. He'd been one of the greats, a real contender, but a heavy weight bout with Ted Grant back in '74 had changed all that. He'd always prided himself on being a good fighter, and he learned the hard way that there was always somebody better. Thanks to the betting Grant had given him he was not just another old salt trying to make a living. He'd long since given up being angry about it.

"Jones, get off your ass and hand me that arc welder will Ya?"Bibbo barked as he knelt down over the pipe and reached for his welding mask. Rudy pulled a cigarette from his shirt pocket and pressed it between his fat lips as he patted himself down in search of his lighter.

"Ya mind not lightin' that Fatso, I'm not looking to be blown up" Bibbo grunted, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Rudy glared at the older man in disgust, who was he calling fat? Bibbo wasn't exactly small either.

"Shove it old-timer" Rudy snapped as he fished Bibbo's welder from the pile of tools beside him.

"Boy I've got half a mind to crack you one" Bibbo muttered to himself.

"Relax pops, nothin's gonna happen" Jones said dismissively. As if on cue, a loud metallic crack echoed through the tunnel and Jones's left arm sagged as the pipe broke free of its rusted mooring. The jagged edge of the metal bracing sheared against the pipe valve, rupturing its seal. Gas leaked from the pope with a steady hiss. Frightened, Jones leapt to his feet and flung himself as far back from the pipe as his stocky legs would carry him. Amused, Bibbo let out a chuckle as he took in the sight.

"Oh, now you move" The older man said with a laugh, his craggy voice echoing down the empty tunnel.

Rudy drew in several ragged breaths and wiped the fresh sheen of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Looks like it ruptured on safety, I'll go on up ahead and shut down the line. You can weld the patch and then we'll call it. No use getting blown up if I'm not even getting paid for it"

Rudy gave a weak nod as Bibbo turned and headed down the other end of the shaft. His nerves were shot, his knees were knocking and his hands trembled on their own accord. Needing something to soothe his frazzled nerves, Rudy dug through is pockets and fished out another cigarette. With trembling hands he brought the butt of his cigarette to his mouth and clamped it tight between his dry, cracked lips. Anxiously he patted himself down once more in search of his wayward lighter, before he remembered the welder that now lay forgotten at his feet. Hastily, Rudy bent down, groaning at the strain his girth put on his lower back and hauled the lighter up from the ground. With a flick he activated the torch, and its brilliant white hot flame roared to life. Rudy felt himself calm as he lowered the cigarette tip into the flame and inhaled a deep lungful of smoke, So caught up in the exquisite nicotine induced rapture that he failed to register the _'whoosh'_ of igniting gas and Bibbo's distant bellow before everything went white.


	4. Revelations Pt2

The Rise of Superman

Written by Blade_1582

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I've revamped the story and made various changes to some of the already posted chapters. Nothing major, just some cosmetic and continuity stuff. Cheers!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Smallville, Superman or anything related to DC Comics other than a cache of comics and a handful of old action figures. Please don't sue me I'm broke enough as it is.

* * *

Chloe leaned back against the back of the booth, a soft smile spread across her face as she licked cream cheese icing from the corner of her mouth. After she and Lois had spoken in the park, she had agreed to accept her cousin's hasty apology on one condition: cupcakes. So here they sat, in the window side booth of a small hole in the wall bakery across from the park. She took another bite of the red velvet cake in her hands and let out a content sigh as she relaxed against the vinyl seating.

"Smaller bites Chlo, you're going to choke" Lois teased, sipping her late as Chloe wolfed the mouthful of cake.

"I'm good" Chloe said as she finished the cupcake and crumbled its paper wrapping into a small ball, letting out a girlish giggle as she flicked it at Lois. Lois raised an eyebrow and shot Chloe a wry glare as the small paper ball careened off the side of her cup.

"So tell me something" Lois said passively as she trailed a finger around the rim of her cup. "You and Clark didn't…ya know…on my couch" Lois winced as the words passed from her mouth and gave an awkward shoulder movement that Chloe could only assume was supposed to be a crude imitation of some bizarre and disturbing sexual maneuver.

"No" Chloe said with a dismissive chuckle, and Lois visibly relaxed.

"Oh thank god" Lois breathed, letting out a bawdy laugh. Chloe joined in and their paired laughter echoed through the nearly empty bakery, eliciting more than a few curious glances from the workers behind the counter. Chloe chortled to a stop, tears in her eyes as she chuckled breathlessly. Before she could respond with a finely crafted snarky remark a harrowing boom echoed from beneath she and Lois's feet, cutting their jubilation short. Cautiously she and Lois both turned their gazed to the window and were nothing short of shocked by what they saw. The manhole covers late lined the street were blown free of the channels they covered as jest of fire and steam hurled them skyward. Instinctively, Lois grabbed hold of Chloe and pulled her down as another blast shock the bakery, the concussive force of the explosion shattering the window and sending them tumbling out of their seats. Fleck of pebbled glass and chunks of scorched ceiling rained down on them.

Lois dared a glance over the edge of what remained of their table and stared out into the warzone that had overtaken Third Avenue. The bricks of the surrounding walls had been charred black by the flaming geyser, the worn down asphalt of the street had deep craters blown in its surface, cracked and broken by the stress of the underground explosion. Low hanging branches from the overhanging trees in the park burned and smoldered. Fire was everywhere. Unexpectedly, something extraordinary happened. A powerful gust came whooshing in, snuffing out the flames and smoldering cinders. Plumes of gray-white smoke billowed into the air, and through charcoal haze Lois saw it, saw something she couldn't believe or even explain if she tried.

It came like a bolt of light, a blur of red and blue streaking for the center of the blaze. The bolt of color slammed hard into the ground of the hillside where she and Chloe had been sitting a handful of minutes before.

"My god" She breathed as a wall of earth and rock was thrown into the heavens, obscuring her view.

Clark slammed hard into the ground, using his momentum to drive himself deep into the city's underbelly. Fractions of seconds ticked by before he erupted from the soil and broke through the concrete embankments of a underground tunnel with pipes lining the sides. A yellow orange light flickered in the distance, slowly growing in size and intensity as he surged through the spaces between seconds at an unspeakable velocity. He dug his booted feet into the ground, gaining traction as he landed on the floor and used the change in terrain to slingshot himself towards the growing conflagration.

'_C'mon, move it Clark'_ He chanted to himself as he raced along the tunnel, puddles of water being thrown into the air as he blew past. He reached the heart of the fire within a fraction of a second and what he saw sent a cold shiver coursing up and down the length of his spine.

The budding flames jutted from the jagged edges of a pipe on the a wall a handful of feet away from a pair of men that hung suspended in the air, thrown skyward by the force of the initial blast. Even worse was the rate at which the fire was growing. Despite the fact that he was travel at superhuman velocity the blaze was still going to envelop the men before he could get the out of harm's way. Undeterred, Clark threw himself forward, diving in between the flailing me and the reaching flames. What happened next shocked him beyond belief. Acting on instinct alone Clark drew in a massive breath. He felt his lungs expand further than ever before as he sucked in a massive amount of air. His chest grew in size as his mighty lungs pressed against the confines of his ribcage. A cold tickle played at the back of his throat, growing in intensity as he continued to draw air from all around him. With his lungs full and an arctic chill radiating through his airways he dropped out of super speed, planted his feet and expelled an unfathomable gale of frozen wind from deep inside him. A wall of arctic wind slammed against the flames. The hiss of steam in the air echoed as icy crystals crackled and popped at the dying flames licked at them. Within seconds his breath had beaten the flames back to the point of collapse. With one final flex of his diaphragm he emptied his lungs and snuffed out the flames completely.

The fires extinguished, he whirled around and snatched the ill fated duo from the air seconds before they were smashed against the concrete with enough force to shatter bone. The older of the two men, stirred briefly, and panic shot through Clark for the briefest of seconds.

"J..Jones?" Bibbo slurred lazily, bleary eyes fighting to focus in the utter darkness of the tunnel. He looked up at the shadowed figure that held him. Fighting against the pain that surged through his body, Bibbo craned his next to get a better look at the man, but the dim light only provided him with a glimpse of his red and blue silhouette. "…alive?" He questioned, his consciousness starting to ebb once more.

"Yes" Clark said flatly. "You're both alive"

"Good" Bibbo said before passing out, his body sagging in Clark's arms as he dropped back into unconsciousness. Clark took the opportunity to gather both men up in his arms and then disappeared in a blur of motion only to re-emerge seconds later on a rooftop overlooking the torched remains of Centennial Park.

Hastily, Clark lowered the bruised and battered men to the ground and swept over them with his X-ray vision. No broken bones, no internal injuries…they were in the clear. He, on the other hand, was not.

He was exposed now, The man he knelt over had seen his face, and probably seen him douse the fire as well and he didn't want to even think about how many people had seen him dash into the park like a mad man. He had been reckless, irresponsible, and these two men were alive because of it. Try as Clark might to berate himself for exposing his secret, he couldn't let go of the fact that he'd saved these two lives.

These men would go on tomorrow, and the day after that because of him. It was a feeling unlike anything he'd ever felt before. He hauled himself up onto his feet and strode to the opposite edge of the rooftop. Eight stories below the charred remnants of Centennial Park lay sprawled about beneath him. Emergency vehicles and swarms of frenzied onlookers filled the streets, and as the crowd grew so did the lump in his throat. 'Chloe' he breathed, her name hanging on his lips as he stared helplessly down at the growing crowd below him. She was here; somewhere….He could hear the melodic thrumming of her heartbeat.

He took no solace in the fact that her heart beat steady and labor free. Instead, panic shot through him like lightning as the realization dawned on him. She had been here when the fire started…she could have been in the park for all he knew. Beside himself with fear, Clark ran to the edge of the roof and peered over the side in a vain attempt to gain a clearer view.

Groggy from her blow to the head, Chloe, with much help from Lois, staggered out of the doorway of the burned out bakery and into the waiting arms of trained medical professionals which she was sure were in the possession of some very effective pain killers. Throbbing pain aside, her thoughts were more focused on the chaos that surrounded her. Half of midtown could have gone up in that blaze, but it didn't and she knew who to thank for that. She couldn't help the proud smirk that crossed her soot streaked face as she observed her boyfriend's handy work.

'_Clark Kent to the rescue'_ She thought bemusedly as Lois helped her to sit on the tail end of the waiting ambulance. The paramedic busily went to work in cleaning her up and addressing the number of small cuts and barely there bruises that littered her exposed arms.

"I'm fine Lois, really" Chloe groaned, wincing as the EMT dabbed at a bleeding wound on her forehead. "There are people are here worse off than me, somebody else should –"

"Look! Up there!" A voice echoed from deep within the growing crowd and Chloe whipped around, wrenching her next as she looked skyward, as did Lois and the EMT. Chloe's eyes widened in shock and recognition as she took in the sight before her; there, on the rooftop above her was a familiar figure standing just below the horizon. His features were silhouetted by the sun but Chloe would have recognized them anywhere. The square shoulders; the strong arms, and bold jaw line and piercing eyes.

"Clark" she whispered. He turned then, angling his body as though he'd heard her and Chloe's heart fluttered in her chest as they stared at one another over the distance. "go" She said in a tone so low that she herself could barely hear it. He relented and disappeared in an instant; Leaving the crowd to gaze skyward in the vain hope that they might catch another glimpse of their savior.

The harrowing sounds of agonized screams rang through the air, followed by the staccato echo of high caliber gunfire and another wave of pained howls. Their shrill vibrato echoed off of the ornate valances that lined the walls of the sedate antechamber that served as his home office but he paid them no mind. Instead he trained his focus on the grainy black and white image that played out before him. Lex stared at the screen of his laptop computer intently, the cool headed and collected façade of unwavering control that he usually maintained had fallen, yielding to the burgeoning madness that lay dormant in the dark recesses of his mind.

His brow furrowed beyond belief, the taught flesh of his scalp was creased and wrinkled in stress. His cold eyes were half crazed and bloodshot but try as he might he was unable to close them, lest miss a portion of the disturbingly fascinating scene that was continuing to unfold. His thin lips shifted back and forth between a disgusted grimace and a twisted, maniacal smile as he watched the abject massacre continue with an almost childlike glee.

This was the seventeenth time he's watched the nearly ten minute long video clip, and he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. This was the seventeenth time he watched himself rip and tear his way through an entire squadron of what he could only assume were some of the most elite guardsmen the US military had to offer. Seventeen times he'd watched on in mindless wonder as his visage cut a bloody swath through the men. Machine gun rounds glinting harmlessly off of his impervious flesh as he continued his onslaught with reckless abandon; his jaw went slack and his stomach lurched when he gazed upon his savagely triumphant form as he ripped a man's arm free from his shoulder and then sliced his tortured pleas for mercy by setting him ablaze with but a single glance before uttering a bone chilling phrase.

"All shall kneel before Zod!" The voice echoed in his mind. It felt strange that his own voice sounded so foreign, so alien to him. It was deeper, more resonate. Laden with power and confidence in his superiority; even more disturbing was the fact that he had grown to like the sound of it. Much as he would like to let his mind wander; to let this record of his visage's monstrous acts carry him back into the depths of his subconscious in a vain search for any sign of remembrance of that fateful day there was a more pressing riddle to be solved.

He lifted the crystal brandy snifter from its resting place on the glass table top and brought it to his lips; hastily swilling down a mouthful of the aged liquor, letting its familiar burn assuage the throbbing ache in his bones. His focus renewed, Lex closed out of the video and turned his attention back to the email message from which he had received it. It had cleverly been routed through a half dozen ghost IP address from her to the far side of the Sudan, making a trace virtually impossible, even for a man with assets as far reaching as his. Even more cryptic was the message's sole line of text that read 'We Know'.

Before he could further ponder his plight, the tell tale sound of the mahogany doors to his office being thrown open followed by the clacking of heels against the parquet flooring informed him he was no longer alone. Smoothly, as to not raise suspicion he powered off his computer and softly closed the lid, taking the briefest of moments to recompose himself before languidly addressing the familiar but brutally obtrusive visitor.

"Lana" He said dryly, trying to make it sound as though he presence here could be construed as anything other than bothersome. His unintelligible barb went unnoticed as she plopped down into the overstuffed leather armchair by the fireplace and Lex stifled a wince. After all, that chair was worth more than the whole of her college tuition.

"I just can't believe they'd to this to me" She huffed, shifting her weight to and fro in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you" Lex said suavely as he hauled himself out from behind his desk and breezed towards the wet bar a few feet away. "But what's wrong? You seem a little out of sorts" he said flatly, pouring himself another glass of finely aged brandy before moving to join Lana by the hearth.

"Clark" Lana spat disdainfully and Lex tightened his grip on the crystal glass in his hand, his teeth on edge.

'_Of course'_ He snarled inwardly. "What about him" Lex questioned, somewhat unenthusiastically.

"Well apparently he and Chloe hooked up behind my back" Lana snarled, wiping away the beginnings of tears with the back of her hand as she spoke. Lex's face lit up at the revelation, and he was quick to cover his elation with yet another well structured façade.

'_Had that self righteous, dim-witted bumpkin actually handed him the golden opportunity he'd been looking for?'_ He asked himself as he sipped from the glass in his hands. Ever since he had beguiled Lana into pursuing a relationship with himself he'd been searching for a way to drive a wedge between Lana and her relentlessly inquisitive best friend. If ever there was a thorn in his side more annoying than Clark Kent, it was Chloe Sullivan and now, thanks largely to the lummox of a farm boy, he had the perfect tool with which to sever Lana's ties to her former friends.

"Lana" Lex said softly, his tone mirroring the way he'd heard Clark say her name so many times over the years. "This is Clark and Chloe we're talking about. She's your best friend and he's your Ex. Given your history and the way you two parted ways. It's hard not to see this as the clear cut betrayal that it is?"

"You think? I mean, I know Chloe has been in love with lime for a long time.." Lana trailed, lost in her own thoughts. "But she's never acted on it, not like this. And Clark…he may not be the most forthcoming person on earth, but he's not malicious. I just don't see them going out of their way to keep this from me"

'_So like her to absentmindedly defend them'_ Lex mused as reclined against his seat, "How did you find this out anyway?"

"I..I bumped into Clark at the Planet." Lana sighed, sinking lower into the cushions of the arm chair as she spoke. "He was there to see Chloe"

"How did he react to you?" Lex questioned.

"What do you mean?" Lana asked, slightly confused by Lex's comment.

"I mean, did he act like he had something to hide?" Lex prodded.

"Yeah, a little…I confronted him about it, and we got into an argument."Lana divulged her blood pressure spiking as she recalled the pointed bars she and Clark had exchanged over Chloe's desk.

"And what did he have to say for himself?" Lex asked, leaning forward in a display of genuine curiosity.

"Nothing." Said angrily, and Lex couldn't help but smirk in victory. "Just as we were about to get anywhere he up an disappeared on me" Lana snarled bitterly.

"I see" Lex said smugly, reclining back against his chair once more. "You question him and he leaves, not exactly new behavior for Clark now is it?"

"No, I guess not" Lana said with a dismissive sigh.

"What did Chloe have to say about all this?" Lex questioned, raising a curious eyebrow.

"She wasn't there, I haven't had a chance to talk to her" Lana said flatly.

"You should." Lex said bluntly, cranking up as much faux sympathy as his stunted emotional range would allow. "Seeing as how she's your roommate and is now dating your ex without give you so much as a cursory heads up." He said with forked tongue, a devilish glint twinkling in his dull eyes. "As you said, Clark isn't exactly known for being forthcoming, I'm sure Chloe can offer you a little more insight at the very least…" Lana turned to face him then, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment. Lex stared back equally, measuring the weight of his words as they sunk in on her. Eventually he saw the faintest glimmer of understanding dawn behind her hazel irises and he knew then that he had won. She'd swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker and now she was at his mercy.

'_Maybe her intrusion wasn't such a bad thing after all'_ Lex mused as he took another sip from his glass. _'Let the games begin…'_


End file.
